Roberto Sierra's 'Sinfonia No. 4' uses traditional symphonic form and incorporates influences from composers of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries

Naxos 8.559738 (2013)

Roberto Sierra
www.robertosierra.com

Roberto Sierra (b. 1953)

Sinfonía No 4, Fandangos and Carnaval

Naxos 8.559738 (2013)
On December 30, 2009 AfriClassical posted: “Roberto Sierra's 'Sinfonia No. 4' is First Work Composed for Sphinx Commissioning Consortium”

http://africlassical.blogspot.com/2009/12/roberto-sierras-sinfonia-no-4-is-first.html

Roberto Sierra is a Puerto Rican composer who was born in 1953. He is a Professor at Cornell University. The Sphinx Organization's publication The Quarter Note, Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter 2010, wrote:

“Much like the musicians on classical music stages, there is little diversity among the composers whose work is performed on those stages. Intent on building diversity in this important aspect of classical music, Sphinx joined forces with twelve orchestras to commission a new work from a Black or Latino composer each year. Thus was born the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium.

"From a pool of nominees, the consortium awarded the commission to Roberto Sierra. His new Sinfonia No. 4 is the consortium's first completed piece. The Nashville Symphony Orchestra premiered the piece in October with Giancarlo Guerrero conducting. Performances by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, both consortium member orchestras, followed. After just a handful of performances, Sierra's piece is fulfilling the mission of the Sphinx Commissioning Consortium. Performances are already scheduled with orchestras around the country, including two that are not members of the consortium.”

NashvilleSymphony.org provides program notes by Thomas May:
“Puerto Rican-born composer Roberto Sierra has developed a unique style characterized by infusing classical forms and genres with Latin American idioms. The composer refers to the process of creating these vibrantly colorful hybrids as 'tropicalization.'”

The liner notes for Naxos American Classics 8.559738 are by the composer, Roberto Sierra. He writes that Fandangos (11:07) dates from 2000. The historical origin of the fandango is claimed by both the Iberian peninsula and the New World, we are told. Sierra writes:

“A harpsichord work attributed to Antonio Soler (1729–83) was my point of departure. Soler’s Fandango seems fractured, almost like a written improvisation, an important element that provided me the base for writing this orchestral fantasy, where I also incorporated elements from Luigi Boccherini’s (1743–1805) and Domenico Scarlatti’s (1685–1757) respective fandangos, as well as my own Baroque musings.”

Sinfonia No. 4 (23:12) is from 2008-2009. The composer states: “This is the fourth work in a series of compositions that demonstrate my relationship to the great symphonic tradition, one that I change and transform from within its own formal logic.” The movements are Moderadamente rápido, Rápido, Tiempo de bolero and Muy rápido y rítmico. Sierra writes of the fourth movement:

“This is a clave that permeates and cannibalizes the structure; my version of musical anthropophagy, where a structure devours another structure creating a form of expression that is loose but at the same time highly concentrated. This method allows me to reshape external influences, while freeing them from anything that might restrain its own vitality. At the end the process becomes one not of transformation but of transcreation; a term which describes the process of adapting a message from one language to another, while maintaining its intent, style, tone and content.”

Sierra says of Carnaval (2007): “The five movements of Carnaval draw their inspiration from mythical creatures.” They are Gargoyles, Sphinxes, Unicorns Dragons and The Phoenix. The composer writes: “This orchestral suite is linked to Robert Schumann (1810–56) not only by the quotes in Sphinxes, but also by the character piece nature of the movements.”

We have enjoyed listening to this latest CD of Roberto Sierra many times, and find the greatest satisfaction in Sinfonia No. 4, with its use of traditional symphonic form and its successful incorporation of influences from composers of the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Disclosure: A review copy of this recording was provided by the record label.